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Why are both my cats vomiting and not eating? Can they get sick?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Shorthair | Female | spayed | 6 years and 4 months old | 9 lbs

Both of my cats were off their food from Friday to yesterday. They would drink water, but after vomiting on Friday, multiple times, for both of them, they stopped eating. Nothing in their environment changed. Their food has been the same for months, their water fountain had a new-ish filter, but not brand new. There have been no changes to VOCs (volatile organic compounds) in the house, and they have not gone outside, nor been around other cats, or wild life. Do cats contract bugs like humans?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Destini R. Holloway, DVM

Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on January 23rd, 2018

Poor cats. Yes cats can catch bugs and get ill just like people can. And since both were sick simultaneously, it has to be something they both got into and ingested or were exposed to. It is very odd that nothing has changed in their environment, so finding out the culprit is going to be tough. You also may want t check with the company that made the filter you just changed just to make sure no recalls exist. Also I would consider just changing the filter altogether just to cover every possibility here.
Also make sure that there also isn’t any chance of them getting into medications in the home as well.
Regardless of that, they should be seen by your vet if they are still not eating and unwell. That is a long time to go without a good appetite, especially for a cat, and at the very least the vet can give them anti-nausea medicine, antibiotics (if indicated), and fluids to treat for any undelrying dehydration. I hope your cats feels better soon. Best wishes and take care.
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